Pokemon: Shine on, you crazy diamond
by PixelateUmberon
Summary: It's the search for a shiny that brings them together. Exchanging a look and a reassuring nod, the pair stepped forward into the darkness and the unknown.
1. Sam, Kan, Leo, Dusk, San, Nic

**This chapter was written by Umberon44.**

* * *

It was probably when his umbreon snapped the tree that the whole mess had started. It may not have been the best place to be practising Dark Pulse, especially with the wild pokemon so close, but after thinking for all of two seconds, he'd done it anyway. After being surprised by the toppled tree, and the intimidating glares of countless wild pokemon, well, that was when things went bad. Mnemonic had done a good job of defending him as he sprinted away from the flashmob, but after a couple of nasty looking paras scratches, tripping over one too many sticks, and running into a couple of trees, he decided he needed to shake tail a little bit faster before one of the pokemon landed a lucky hit on him or Nic. One pokeball later, his charizard had sent a wave of flame at their pursuers and he was free to inspect his wounds from the safety of the sky. But that wasn't the last of his troubles. He _may_ have gotten a little too distracted by one infected scratch, so he barely noticed the pidgeotto flock screeching violently on their way towards him. That gave the lot of them a few more wounds than they really should have gotten. But hey, Nic got away cleanly and Paleo... well, Paleo wasn't one to mess with. He was a giant, flying, fire breathing lizard, after all. They had landed in front of a darkened cave, and he got down off Leo's back to sit by the entrance. The one infected wound would need to be dealt with as soon as possible, and his pokemon's wounds would too. He retrieved a few potions from his bag, along with a couple antibacterial creams and began treating their injuries.

Of course, the bad luck didn't end there. Something had driven the zubat out of the cave system below, right out the entrance they were all resting by. The bat pokemon screeched and flapped blindly as they fled whatever had scared them out of the safety of the caves. They spooked Leo, too. Of course they did. The charizard drew himself up and roared at the swarm, creating even more havoc as the blind pokemon began flying in whatever direction they thought was away, battering the two pokemon and the human alike. Samuel considered now the time to take refuge from the zubat maelstrom in the cave entrance, at least until his flailing charizard decided to fall into the cave and bring them along too. He, Leo, and Nic all rolled into the darkness of the cave, until he hit a large rocky outcrop. Ow. Rubbing his ribs, he stood up and squinted. Nope. Not nearly enough light. That was bad. Leo's tail should have been acting as a torch. After a few barks from Nic that guided him to the umbreon, Samuel released his luxray. The huge cat pokemon had perfect night vision, and the pokemon did indeed know where Leo had fallen. The charizard had rolled backwards under a ledge, quite a few feet down. His wing appeared to be twisted. Samuel left the two pokemon on top of the ledge and carefully climbed down, holding Leo's pokeball. At the bottom, he felt around until he could sit against his dragon's back, and tapped the pokeball to its nose. The red light temporarily blinded him, but he managed to climb back up successfully. Nic took his place in his lap as he sat back again against the cave wall, with Kanaya's nose resting on his shoulder. With a sigh, he realises that a nice day's training at Mount Moon backfired. A lot. And he was lost. Great. He released his two other pokemon, Sanguine and Dusk, and decided to take a nap. Why not. The lucario took a meditative pose beside him, and the dewott lay against Kan's stomach. The six descended into sleep while the gentle sound of their breathing quietly echoed through the caves.

* * *

 **AN:** _So, readers, this is PixelateUmberon's first collaboration. Or at least, the first collaboration we've put up here. Hopefully this first chapter wasn't too blocky and flowed decently. Feel free to review, of course. Anyway, I really hope you all enjoy this story, and Pixelate's turn is up next, so be pumped for that!_

 _To all those wondering, as well- the lowercase pokemon titles are intentional. I do believe (at least in this story) that since pokemon are a common creature in this universe that they shouldn't be capitalised. We don't capitalise the titles of animals like sheep or cows, nor do we capitalise the word 'animals,' hence lowercase 'pokemon.'_


	2. Kiana, Taisie

**This chapter was written by Pixelate.**

* * *

The morning came in all its glory, the grey sky tinged with orange and mauve, the air crisp and fresh and the sounds of waking creatures creating a melody that was both pure and sweet. The majestic Mount Moon, surrounded on all sides by expansive forests, rose up like a turquoise pyramid, standing out amongst the peaks and valleys of Kanto like a beautiful and very mysterious beacon.

And why should it not stand out? Mount Moon had garnered a reputation for its intrigue and secrets, earning it visits from a myriad of trainers and researchers alike, each trying and failing to unveil its mysteries and solve its puzzles.

Today was no different; another individual had come to the mountain in search of something rare and exciting, but it was, perhaps, not what most would have been searching for. It was true that her intention was to observe the illustrious clefairy which inhabited the caves and mountaintops, and it was also true that thus far she had found no such luck in either endeavour, but one thing that must be noted is this young woman's persistence.

As far as trainers went, Kiana was a pretty ordinary one. In fact, 'ordinary' was possibly the best adjective to use when it came to describing her; she was neither tall nor short, with dark hair and pale grey eyes and an impassive face that betrayed nothing. She never stood out in a crowd, which was just how she liked it. She did her best to avoid confrontation, and while trouble wasn't something she always actively searched for, it was often something she encountered nonetheless.

This morning, as the weak, daybreak sunlight filtered through the canopy of trees above her head, Kiana tried and failed yet again to stifle a yawn. Like water or a particularly illusive helioptile, it escaped from between her fingers before she could stop it. As she sat there, drawing in the last heat from the dying embers of her campfire, a dainty black nose poked out from between the flaps of her tent, waffled the air briefly, before disappearing. A moment later, the nose's owner, a sylveon with a velvety blue and white pelt and delicate, seemingly gravity defying ribbons, stepped soundlessly out into the clearing. She flicked her long ears and opened her jaws, revealing rows of small, pointed white teeth as she let out a greeting, causing the girl to jump in alarm.

Dragged out of her early morning stupor by her silky furred friend, Kiana reminded herself just what she was doing up on the mountain in the first place and set about packing her possessions away neatly; they were an odd assortment of trinkets and knick knacks that she had picked up over the years, ranging from the necessities (camping equipment, maps and other trainer essentials) to the completely random (such as a small collection of hand painted figurines she had brought at a farmer's market). The little sylveon, whose name was Taisie, did her best to help her master pack up, fetching the bits and bobs that would have otherwise been left forgotten and earning herself an affectionate scratch behind the ears for her troubles.

Eventually, once everything was put away safely, the fire reduced to black and grey soot, and the clearing left otherwise just as they had found it, the pair set off up the path, following the well-trodden natural trails that had been formed over the years by a combination of people and pokemon traversing the mountain.

Kiana walked in silence, face expressionless and eyes fixed on whatever lay ahead while Taisie skipped ahead of her to inspect her surroundings, always coming back when she felt that she had ventured too far away from her master.

It was in this fashioned that the pair travelled for most of the day, stopping every now and then so that Kiana could add a footnote or drawing to her book full of hand drawn maps, until finally they reached the entrance to a cave set deep in the mountain. Even from out here, the pair could clearly see the ethereal glow from within its depths, and they exchanged a glance as shivers of excitement ran down their spines. Steeling themselves for whatever mysteries awaited them, the pair stepped forward into the darkness and the unknown.

* * *

 **AN:** Don't judge me too hard, please! I am very rusty right now, and open to any constructive criticism you might be able to offer me.


End file.
